... We Can't Go Into Another Key & You Stay In The Old Key ...

As Randy Jackson might have confirmed this, Lazaro Arbos' take on (They Long To Be) Close To You has been considered the worst live performance on American Idol to date. Also, listen to what Mariah Carey and Keith Urban had to say about a particular issue. Just skip the first 25 seconds of the clip if you don't care about some foolishness.

Lazaro Arbos - Close to You - American Idol 12... by IdolxMuzic

"That is horrible", "It's not the right song for you", and "He can't sing" are few common responses to this embarrassing performance. Randy Jackson pointed out that this type of performance typically occurred during audition round. While we can blame the judges and the whole show for letting the contestant to advance to later rounds, here are possible issues surrounding this particular performance:

• The Wrong Key: In order to choose the right key, singers need to understand the concept of key signature. A key signature refers to pattern of flats or sharps of a musical scale. Determining at which points are sharp or flats requires trial and error. Getting to the right notes and suitable transitions would still need further fine tuning. Lazaro indicated that he had gone through different keys that were too high and too low for the song, but he still struggled.
• Lack of Mastery: It would be easier to assume that the song was not right for him. Whether or not a better one should be chosen, it all comes down to preparation. Besides choosing the right key, other considerations that come into play involve choosing a sweet spot of vocal range, understanding song lyrics, and recognizing singer's vocal potential. After going through all of these, it is not unusual for a contestant to decide on another song at the last minutes. Proceeding with a song, Mariah Carey mentioned that a singer needs to own the song, to express it, and to have greater comfort in performing it.
• Misguided Messages: Each American Idol contestant has his/her opportunity to rehearse a chosen song with musical instruments accompaniment. During this time, a sample of audience that usually involves producers, vocal coaches, and stage managers, could offer feedback and provide constructive criticism on various aspects like song choice, pitch issue, and singer's movement. While any criticism or feedback should ideally lead to an optimum live performance, some contestants might have been misguided by mixed messages. Mixed messages have often occurred with the judges when one tells a contestant to focus on playing the piano while another encourages on dominating the stage, for example. This might have confused Lazaro as he tried to improve his vocal chops with his performance.
• Singer's Issues: A confident and proficient singer would not be swayed by judges' or producers' lack of clear directions. While it was revealed that Lazaro never had any musical training and vocal coaching prior to his audition, lots of better singers that went further in the competition did not get prior experience either. It was also discovered that he was not familiar with many well known songs from the past, which could make it more difficult. This means that Lazaro really needs more time to understand a song and extensive vocal coaching to improve his singing proficiency, which may not be available each week. Based on all factors mentioned so far, it was safe to assume that Lazaro Arbos was not ready for prime time.
• Manipulated Reality: The judges were not fooled by his voice in the audition round and Lazaro's talent seemed promising. He was shown to be stuttering when he talked, but could sing gracefully without any stuttering. Taking advantage on his speech struggle, the producers dramatized his story so the contestant's courage could touch many viewers, gain support from similar handicapped community, and possibly improve television ratings. Working with the judges, the producers might also have set up a strategy of favoring mediocre male contestants in order to boost female contestants' chances of winning the 2013 American Idol. Whether or not it was a real strategy, the show was left with five female singers when Lazaro Arbos, the last man standing, was eliminated from the singing competition.

The difficulty of choosing a key or flowing along with key changes was not the only issue. When the judges and the producers committed him to go further in the competition, Lazaro Arbos either did not get adequate support or the expectations were too high for him. Still, he managed to get votes or support from community that shared the same struggle, or from tweenies that focused on his cuteness or from Cuban community that would like to see him longer in the competition. It was unfortunate that he left the competition with the worst performance or one of the worst performances. Hopefully, Lazaro would seek further vocal coaching and other support to continue singing gracefully.

Recommended Physical Exercises for Singers

Whether you sing on live appearances or any practice sessions, you want to maintain stamina, flexibility, and concentration, which are some needed elements of a successful singing performance. You could certainly perform well with just committing to vocal practices, but you could gain more benefits by regularly engaging in physical exercises. Different physical exercises, if done properly, can target areas of your singing practice, like maintaining breath support, correcting posture, and sustaining focus. They also help singers develop mental endurance as singers cope with and overcome stress in discipline of practicing and performing. As you gather your elements, here are some recommended physical exercises for your vocal health:

• Jumping rope: If you can never find time to work out or gym membership is too expensive, get yourself a jumping rope. With this one, you can bring it everywhere and jump for  five to ten minutes each time. Regular rope-jumping helps with building breath control and upper body strength.
• Jogging: This one helps you maintain proper pacing and posture if done properly overtime. When you are doing a regular jog on a straight path, pay careful attention to your arms. Keep them as loose as possible in order to prevent them from locking up, which can lead you to be out of breath.
• Calisthenics: Including push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups, various exercises in this area can improve your agility, balance, and coordination. In order to achieve this, watch for tension in your neck and shoulders because it will affect your voice. Therefore, you want to make necessary adjustments between your hands as you do push-ups, and your lower back as you perform sit-ups, for example.
• Swimming: As it is necessary for singers to drink enough water, it provides free flowing therapy for anyone including those that are not even good at it. For those who are concerned or have problems with ear infection and sinuses, they should wear nose and ear plugs in order to take advantage of great stimulation around their body. For example, swimming under water for a prolong period helps you build endurance in your lungs.
• Yoga: Starters would need to take classes or have 1 on 1 sessions in order to take advantage of exercises that can energize and relax your body at the same time. Once you are proficient with practices that incorporate such things like variety of body poses, shoulders' works, and breath-works, you can apply those in your personal routine. Routine yoga practices offer some useful benefits like increasing breath control, preventing illness, and decreasing stage fright.

Like vocal exercises, you want to start from warming up to proceeding gradually. Bear in mind that any physical exercises that you adopt in your fitness regimen need to focus on helping you to become a better singer. A singing teacher or a vocal coach like Brett Manning in Singing Success can always help you achieve this along with a physical trainer or a yoga teacher. Any coach will also likely to advice you against overtraining since it will increase the risk of bodily injury that would also affect your vocal health. For your vocal health and your well being, remember to warm up and start slowly, then have a period of rest and relaxation after all the activities.